Rural Ag Expo focuses on the facts of modern agriculture

To an American farmer or rancher, notions of gluten-free corn, non-genetically modified marshmallows and cows only finding happiness in California seem ludicrous.  To the American consumer, however, they’re perceived as natural solution to unnatural modern agriculture. At the Rural Agriculture Expo in Columbus, Kansas, extension and university professionals met with local farmers, ranchers and consumers to discuss hot topics and strategies for finding truth amidst the misinformation age. Harold Trick, a professor of plant pathology at Kansas State University, tackled the tough topic of genetically modified crops. “Genetic modification is also considered precision breeding,” Trick said. “It’s considered precision breeding because you are taking a specific trait and moving it into a plant.”Because genetic code is universal between plants, animals, humans, microbes and more, Trick said moving genes is a fairly technical but simple process.“It takes anywhere from 3-5 months to up to a year and a half to move from single cells to generate a plant,” Trick said. “Once we have inserted those traits into the genetic makeup of the plant, they act like any other trait that could normally be found in the plant.”Today, there are only 10 commercially available plants with GMO varieties on the market — corn, soybeans, potatoes, papaya, summer squash, sugar beets, apples, canola, cotton and alfalfa.Trick said acres of GMO corn saw an increase from 4 percent in 1996 — the first year they were available — to 92 percent in 2017. Likewise, GMO soybean acres saw an increase from 7 percent in 1996 to 94 percent in 2017.Today 26 countries have adopted biotechnology — a 3 percent increase since 2015.